HASTINGS, Mich. — Only a select few hold the title "legend" in Hastings. Former Saxons soccer coach Doug Mepham is one of them.
"I didn't know how to coach," Mepham said. "But after 30 years, it was a riot."
Nowadays, Mepham likes to look back on the old soccer days. He likes to take pride in his team always playing with a great attitude.
"We didn't get too many cards," Mepham said. "I got the cards. I got a lot of yellow cards."
On top of all of the yellow cards, Mepham also earned a lot of respect in the Hastings community. He was a pioneer at Hastings, as he founded both the boys and girls soccer programs at the high school.
He even paid his junior varsity coach for the first few seasons out of his own pocket to keep the program going.
"[He is] kind of a go getter and he just began the program," Hastings athletic director Mike Goggins said. "He made it a popular sport here in Hastings before anybody else. A lot of that was on the shoulders of the work that Doug did early on."
Mepham started the soccer program because he loves the game. He also wanted his daughters to have a chance to play the sport he loves.
"Some of my favorite memories were playing for my dad because we were a brand new team," Doug's daughter, Sarah Mepham, said. "And we really wanted to win."
After winning the battle for the creation of soccer at Hastings, Mepham now faces the biggest fight of his life — he's been diagnosed with ALS.
"Things happen," Mepham said. "It is what it is."
Mepham's diagnosis in May of 2021 was a total shock for the Hastings community.
"There aren't really a lot of words for it, except that it like just takes your breath away," Doug's wife, Deb Mepham, said.
What takes Mepham's breath away is the support he's received from all around.
"Right here," Mepham said, as he points to his chest. "In my heart."
The love that touches his heart is very present. Several friends and former players stop by weekly to visit him, and Hastings High School even built a ramp for the former coach on the side of his house.
It's easy to see why the community has Mepham's back.
"The impact that this one person has created is just tremendous," former Hastings soccer team captain Scott Schoessel said.
Mepham has touched so many lives not just when he was coaching, but right now, as well.
"If you can find a role model outside of your family, he's the one that you want," former Hastings soccer player Lee Bowman said.
The support has been phenomenal.
"What more can I ask for?" Mepham said.
All Mepham wants to do is look back at all of the good times, especially the memories spent on the sidelines at Hastings High School.
"It was the greatest time of my life," Mepham said. "It really was."
Mepham's family has created a GoFundMe page to help raise money for him to fight ALS.
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